Gear Review: GoRumpl or Go Home?

Admittedly, I’m not a very good car camper. For now, I don’t have the luxury of throwing all my belongings in the truck and hitting the road. Most weekend adventures begin and end in the chaotic chasm that is the Dallas Airport, surrounded by small, screaming children and disgruntled, sickly passengers. Oh, how I’d love to live in my car.

But on our first adventure of 2016, Tay Babe and I had the rare opportunity to load the car to bursting and drive, drive, drive! to Big Bend National Park.

It was the perfect occasion to embrace the car camping lifestyle and see what it’s really about, at least for one night.

We made a lot of odd mistakes. I remember Tay Babe saying once we got there:

“You know…we could have filled the car with all kinds of stuff…pillows, mattresses, even toilet paper! But you know what I grabbed, an extra sleeping bag. Why did I do that? I don’t need a second sleeping bag!” 

Yeah, not our forte.

But we did do something right this trip. We grabbed the 3.3 lbs. twin sized Rumpl Puffy Blanket from GoRumpl. And it was awesome.

Here’s what I thought:

• A Puffy Jacket reinvented as a blanket is the coolest concept ever

GoRumpl started as a Kickstarter campaign back in 2013 and took off like a rocket. Over 1,600 people have pledged nearly $217,000 to make the dreams of Wylie Robinson and Nick Polinko a reality. Why? It’s literally “a revolution in blanket technology.”

• It’s a Star Gazing Necessity

Big Bend National Park is renowned for its unreal star gazing opportunities. But as a desert in the middle of nowhere, it gets stinkin’ cold at night. The GoRumpl blanket worked awesomely as a ground pad and provided the perfect amount of insulation between the ground and ourselves, no bag required. After a long day of hiking, we clunked out no problem and perfectly warm under the stars and on top of our Puffy.

• GoRumpl stays clean and dries well

It doesn’t matter plush the campsite, there is no escaping the dirt, dust, critters and moisture that somehow always creep into the tent at night. But surprisingly, the Rumpl keeps itself pretty clean and pretty dry in real outdoor conditions.

• The material is too slippy 

No matter how cocooned you manage to find yourself in this blanket as you fall asleep, there is no way you will wake up with the Rumpl still on top of you. It’s a slippery fabric and if you don’t have extra layers, you will wake up cold and Rumpl-less.

• Functionality only goes so far

The Rumpl Puffy Blanket can be used for, at the most, car camping. I can’t defend any situation where you’d lug this thing into the backcountry. It’s plush, it’s snuggly, it’s cozy – and ultimately, that’s a bulky luxury.

• All your Instagram followers will be jealous (??)

The Rumpl Puffy Blanket is slowly becoming one of the most photographed camping blankets of the Instagram year, creeping up behind Pendleton and CoalaTree (at least, based on my newsfeed). The simple, elegant design and trendy color options make this blanket perfect whether you’re on the beach or on top of a mountain.

I may or may not have already preordered the new Down Feather Puffy Blanket for 2016. Whoops.

@Barefoot_Bonhomie.